


gonna place my bet on us

by reachthetree



Category: One Direction (Band), Radio 1 RPF
Genre: Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Recreational Drug Use, i don't know this is silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-29
Updated: 2015-01-29
Packaged: 2018-03-09 14:17:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3252872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reachthetree/pseuds/reachthetree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>When Louis wakes up in Nick’s bed, he slides out from under the covers silently, finds his pants on the floor – come stain and all – and goes to find a permanent marker.</i>
</p>
<p>Louis has a crush. It's fine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	gonna place my bet on us

**Author's Note:**

> I listened to Up by Olly Murs and Demi Lovato and was inspired but this isn't really like the song at all? That's where the title is from, anyway. I just wanted to post this even if it's short and silly and not beta'd etc.

When Louis wakes up in Nick’s bed, he slides out from under the covers silently, finds his pants on the floor – come stain and all – and goes to find a permanent marker.

He finds it in a kitchen drawer, and takes the time to put a kettle on before he returns to the bedroom. Nick is still very much asleep. Louis stops to watch him for a second. This is new and Nick looks soft and Louis has to do something.

The bed creaks a little when Louis sits down next to Nick, and he freezes. Nick doesn’t wake up. So Louis uncaps the marker, smelling the sharp scent of it while he considers what to put on him.

It ends up being a question mark. On his forehead.

Nick frowns in his sleep, so it’s a little crooked, but you can definitely see what it is. Louis finds the rest of his clothes and goes to drink a cup of tea before leaving. He leaves the marker lying around without the cap on. A message on the kitchen table.

He drinks his tea slowly, daring the universe to wake Nick up and make him deal with this. By the time he takes the last sip, it’s cold, and he’s still alone in someone else’s kitchen.

Louis doesn’t wash up the cup before he slams the door.

*

Nick posts a selfie with the question mark on his forehead. He’s making a silly face, and he’s still in bed. Louis can see his chest hair peeking out from under the covers and knows how it feels under his hands. He remembers running his fingers through it, remembers how Nick laughed at his fascination with it, remembers slapping Nick gently in the face for it and Nick biting his lip and slapping him right back, but on his arse. 

He remembers feeling hot all over and thinking: there’s something good here.

*

“It was just a one night stand, mate,” Zayn tells him. “It’s usually best not to dwell on these things.”

Louis isn’t so sure. He accepts the blunt Zayn passes him, though, and takes a hit before biting back. “You weren’t there,” he says, slower than he means to. “It was something.”

Zayn shrugs. “Do something, then,” he says. His smile is too gentle for Louis to deal with. This isn’t soft; this is hard.

So he gets high and higher with Zayn, and soon enough the only thing that matters is the bag of Doritos right here.

*

Harry is pleased that Nick is now a mutual friend of theirs. “I knew you two would get along,” he beams, and Louis wants to say something, but he doesn’t know what.

“Yeah, we got along,” he says instead, huffing because downward dog is a difficult position and Harry’s tendency to chat during yoga is really quite annoying.

He feels the muscles on the back of his thighs strain and tries to focus. Deep breaths. Body awareness. Louis is breathing and alive and he has a body. He knows all this. But he doesn’t know what to do about his heart, or his soul. If he has one.

After they’re done folding themselves up and stretching out again, Harry makes them smoothies. Louis hates Harry’s green smoothies, with kale and similar atrocities, so Harry kindly makes his fruit smoothie first.

Louis swallows around the sweet taste and thinks about the grateful look on Nick’s face after Louis had swallowed his come. It’s rare, finding someone who appreciates the little things.

“What are you thinking about?” Harry asks and slurps on his hideous green smoothie.

“Blowjobs,” Louis replies. It’s true, but not so true that it’s dangerous.

Harry laughs and asks him to elaborate. So he does. He talks about the difference between blowing someone to speed things up or to appease them, and doing it because you genuinely want to. While he’s talking, he hopes Harry won’t question whose cock he really wants to suck. He doesn’t.

*

It’s been a week and there’s still a hint of a question mark on Nick’s face. Louis knows this because he opens instagram first thing every time he unlocks his phone, going straight for Nick’s profile. He posts a lot of selfies.

He hasn’t texted, though. Neither has he called, or sent a tweet, or a facebook message. He hasn’t even liked Louis’ pictures on instagram. Naturally, that means Louis has to be very careful so he doesn’t like Nick’s by mistake. Give no likes, receive no likes – that’s the laws of nature.

Louis doesn’t know what to do. He had expected an indignant text about the marker and the cup, at the very least.

Zayn texts and asks him if he’s still hung up on Grimmy. Louis tells him to fuck off. It’s constructive, that. Louis takes a deep breath, shakes his head, and tells himself good things.

Definitely probably maybe everything will be fine.

*

It’s fine until it’s Harry’s birthday and Nick is at the party. Louis forgets to drink because Nick is wearing a white shirt that’s so thin he can see his nipples. He avoids him expertly for about two hours. That’s when Harry confronts him about it.

“I thought you and Nick got along?” His flushed tipsy face looks confused and a bit hurt and Louis can’t disappoint him.

“I didn’t know he was here!” Louis exclaims. He’s overdone it, he knows, but Harry smiles again. 

Now all that’s left to do is talk to Nick.

Louis does a shot of vodka and winces at the taste before approaching him. Liquid courage and all that jazz.

“Well, if it isn’t the artist himself,” is Nick’s greeting.

“Don’t act like you hate it,” Louis shoots back automatically. What he means is: please don’t hate it.

Nick grins. He’s looking at Louis like he’s trying to figure something out. “You’re something else,” he says.

“I can see your nipples,” Louis replies. He feels a strange mix of comfortable and uncomfortable and he doesn’t want it to stop.

The laugh that comes from Nick sounds deep and delighted.

*

It doesn’t take long to remember why they ended up in bed the first time. When Nick laughs, Louis has to laugh with him. It’s happy and good and easy, like instant hot chocolate. They talk about music and football and Harry’s green smoothies (Nick hates them too) and suddenly it’s been hours.

Louis was hoping to be invited back to Nick’s, but he’s somehow surprised when it happens.

“I don’t have another marker, so I figure it’s safe,” Nick jokes, and Louis laughs nervously when he accepts the invite.

Of course he does.

*

Afterwards, Louis lies down with his head on Nick’s rug of chest hair and his leg thrown over Nick's hip. I’m staying, is what it means. He hopes Nick gets it because he doesn’t think he can say it.

Nick nuzzles the hair on top of his head and presses a light kiss there. Louis smiles into his chest. 

Then Nick clears his throat and speaks. “So, what did you want to ask me?”

Louis’ body tenses up. “What are you on about?” he says, trying to sound light. Not a big deal, this. It’s cool.

“The question mark, love.” Nick’s voice is kind and curious and Louis is too warm.

“Oh, that,” he says, feigning realisation. “It was just, er, a feeling.”

“A feeling,” Nick repeats, slow and deep like diving.

“A feeling,” Louis confirms. He clears his throat. “Didn’t you…” He takes a brief pause, and this bridge is falling under him, but he goes on over it anyway. “Didn’t you feel something?”

Nick smooths his hand over Louis’ back. It’s big and warm and comforting and Louis is walking over a breaking bridge, feeling every hard beat of his heart and trying to find footing.

“Yeah,” Nick says and kisses the top of Louis’ head again. “I definitely felt something.”

**Author's Note:**

> :)


End file.
